IPO 101: How Do Public Offerings Actually Work?

An IPO — initial public offering — is the process by which a private company sells shares to the public for the first time and lists them on a stock exchange. It’s a useful concept to understand fully, because the Dangote Refinery IPO is currently moving through exactly this process.

It generally works in stages.

First, the company decides to go public and hires advisers — typically investment banks and legal counsel — to structure the deal.

Second, it prepares a prospectus, a detailed disclosure document covering the company’s financials, business risks, use of proceeds, and share structure, which gets filed with the relevant securities regulator (in Nigeria, the SEC).

Third, the regulator reviews and, if satisfied, approves the offer.

Fourth, the company and its advisers set a price range and marketing period, sometimes gauging institutional investor demand through a process called book building.

Fifth, the offer opens to subscribers — often split between institutional and retail tranches — for a set window.

Finally, shares are allotted to successful subscribers and begin trading on the exchange.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery is currently at the early-to-middle part of this process: it filed its application with Nigeria’s SEC in late July/early August 2026, and that filing is now under regulatory review. A prospectus with real numbers — price range, shares on offer, use of proceeds — has not yet been published as of this writing, and no listing date has been formally approved, even though the company has publicly targeted September 2026.

A common misconception is that filing an application with a regulator is the same as an approved, ready-to-subscribe offer. It isn’t. Regulatory review can surface questions that extend timelines, and companies sometimes adjust price, size, or timing based on market conditions right up until listing. IPOs can also be delayed or, less commonly, withdrawn.

Knowing this sequence helps you interpret Dangote IPO headlines correctly: a filing is real progress, but the milestone that actually lets you subscribe with real terms is SEC approval of a prospectus, followed by an official subscription window announced through licensed channels.